Many devices include multiple electronic components that exchange information with each other. Such information may be exchanged across interconnection media in the form of electrical signals. For example, interfaces known generally as buses may distribute information between components of a computer.
Moreover, as the trend toward advanced central processing units (CPUs) with more transistors and higher frequencies continues to grow, computer designers and manufacturers are often faced with corresponding increases in power and energy consumption. Furthermore, manufacturing technologies that provide faster and smaller components can at the same time result in increased leakage power. Particularly in mobile computing environments, increased power consumption can lead to overheating, which may negatively affect performance, and can significantly reduce battery life. Because batteries typically have a limited capacity, running the processor of a mobile computing system more than necessary could drain the capacity more quickly than desired.
Thus, systems may attempt to conserve power by placing processors in various power states based on various operating characteristics. Such operational states may have a corresponding impact on the behavior of coupled interconnection media, such as buses.